This invention relates generally to the field of additive manufacturing. In particular, the present disclosure relates to an additive manufacturing process including ultrasonic consolidation systems.
Additive manufacturing is an established but growing technology. In its broadest definition, additive manufacturing is any layerwise construction of articles from thin layers of feed material. Additive manufacturing may involve applying liquid, layer, or particle material to a workstage, then sintering, curing, melting, and/or cutting to create a layer. The process is repeated up to several thousand times to construct the desired finished component or article.
Various types of additive manufacturing are known. For example, stereolithography (additively manufacturing objects from layers of a cured photosensitive liquid), Electron Beam Melting (using a pulverant material as feedstock and selectively melting the pulverant material using an electron beam), Laser Additive Manufacturing (using a pulverant material as a feedstock and selectively melting the pulverant material using a laser), and Laminated Object Manufacturing (applying thin, solid sheets of material over a workstage and using a laser to cut away unwanted portions) are known. Another known method of additive manufacturing is ultrasonic compaction, also known as ultrasonic consolidation. Through a Laminated Object Manufacturing process, layers of materials are added to a build platform and are then ultrasonically compacted to form a layer of a component. Current Laminated Object Manufacturing processes and their derivatives are capable of building parts using only one type of metal foil in the build chamber.